Improved folding chair



ALEXANDER W. STEWART, GLASGOW, SCOTLAND.

LettersPateut No. 100,209, dated .February 22, 1870; antedcted August 23,1869.

mpnovnn FOLDING cHAIR.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and. making part of the same.

To all persoas to whom. these presents may come:

. -Be it known that I, ALEXANDER W. STUART, of Glasgow, Scotland', have invented a new and useful Improvement in Folding Chairs; and do hereby de clare the same to be fully described in the following specification, and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a side' elevation, and

Figure 2, a vertical section of a, folding chair, provided with my improvement or made in accordance with my invention. v'

Figure 3 is a front elevation, and

Figure 4, a side view of the chair asit appears when its parts are folded together so as to reduce the chair to a smaller compass than it has when its parts arein the positions as shown in figs. l and 2.

The object of my invention is to so make a folding chair thatwhen the two pairs of crossed legs are folded the seat supported by them shall swing down behind the legs, the seat beginning to drop down as the legs begin to fold, thev seat in the operation of folding being mainly suspended upon the hinges, by which it is jointed to the tops of the front legs, instead of straining such hinges, as it inclines to do if it in the operation of folding first pushes out from the rear legs horizontally, and does not drop down until the legs are brought together.

To accomplish my object, I hinge the seat to the tops of thc legs at the front of the chair, and support it at its rear end upon a cross-rod or pivot, which is placed at suoli a less distance fromthe center of movement or pivotal center of the crossed legs, that as the legs begin to close the seat begins to drop.

` My invention differs from any folding chair previously made (with a seat to fold down behind) in this respect, and it is in my opinion impracticable to make such a folding chair having any value, if 'the three pivoted parts are not thus relatively arranged. My invention consists, therefore, in a cross-legged folding chair having a seat hinged to the top oftwo of the legs at its front, and resting upon and sliding over a pivotal rod at its rear when this rod is so arranged at less distance tha'n are the hinges at the front of the seat from the axial line of the crossed legs, that the seat held at all times against the rod begins to drop as the legs begin to close.

In this chair the legs and the side bars ot the'back are formed by four levers or curved bars, A A B B.

Each of the shorter levers B B crossesone of the back o1' longer levers A A', and the two are connected -at the crossing by a joint-pin, a, going through them,

The two longer levers A A are also similarly connected by another such bar, c, and by two or any other` suitable number of such barsd d.

In carrying out my invention, I so apply the seat (l to thev back cross-bar c as to rest and be capable of being slid' or moved back and forth thereon; and I keep it in connection with such bar by means of two guides or bars, al d', which are arranged underneath the back bar c and parallel with, and are fixed to the seat, such guides or bars being substantially as repre-v sented. A

An equivalent for either or both of such guides would be a rod extended lengthwise through the seat, and also through a staple so applied to the bar c as to be capable of revolving thereon. p

Thegnides also serve as stops to arrest the seat at the extreme of its forward movement, and to prevent the legsl from spreading apart by any weight downward or pressure on the seat.

The seat also Ihook upon or hinge to the upper kends of each of the' smaller or foot-levers B B', thehinges of connection being shown at eye.

By-rcference to the drawing it will be seen that the rod c crosses between the legs A A' at a p'oint much nearer to the joint-pins a of the crossing-legs than the hinges e are to such joint-pins, so that when the legs are closing the rear of the seat, instead of shooting straight back, as it would were the two points c e equidistant from the point a, immediately drops and. continues to move down until the chair is wholly folded.

ln a chair so constructed, the seat may be moved back with the pair of shorter levers, and upon thebar c, and by the guides will be caused to turn on such bar from the position shown in figs. 1 and 2 down into that exhibited in figs. 3 andf4, or from one position into the other, as occasion may require.

Thus it will be seen, that with the seat hinged to the tops of the shorter leg levers, and applied to the. cross back back baro so as to rest on it, and connected toit by the two bent guides, formed as represented, and fastened at or near their ends t-o the seat, the' folding of the chair-together, or the unfolding of its parts, or the bringing them into positions to enable the chair to be used asa seat 0r by a sitter may bel easily accomplished. Also, that the seat during its4 movements on the bar c will be kept in connection therewith, and will be turned down thereupon or upward thereon at the proper time or times.

The sea-t, by sliding and turning down upon the backl bar, renders the chair better in many respects than it would be'were the seat to be hinged to the back levers parts operate with the bar c as stops to hold the sent in a. sitting position, and to prevent the spreading of the legs under such circumstances, or when aJ person -naybe sitting upon the seat.

I claim in a folding chair having crossed legs A B A B', (the legs A A being extended up to form :L back,) n. seat, C, hinged at or near its front edge to the tops .of the legs B B', supported at or near its rear edge upon a cross-rod or pivot, c, I.1nd folding down at the rear of the legs when the pivotal rod c is placed et such distance from the points of intersection of the crossed legs, relatively to the position of the hinge e, as to cause the sont to begin tp drop es the legs begin tofold.

. ALEXANDER W. STEWART. Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. J?. HALE, Jr. 

